Chance the Rapper is a young hip-hop star and producer deeply engaged with social activism. His songs became popular on music streaming platforms that it eventually led to him winning a GRAMMY.
Early Life
Chance the Rapper was born Chancelor Johnathan Bennet on April 16th, 1993, on the South Side of Chicago. Chance had a peaceful childhood. His father, Ken Williams-Bennet worked in the mayor’s office and in Senator Barack Obama’s office.
Chance became interested in rapping when he was very young. He took on the name Chano and started rapping with his friend J-Emcee. Together they formed a group Instrumentality.
Chance’s big break happened when he was at Jones College Pre-High School. He got suspended for marijuana possession and had to stay away from the school for 10 days. He made the best use of the time that was given to him.
Chance locked himself up in a room to record a 14-track project labeled 10 Day. Chance collaborated with Vic Mensa and got Flying Lotus’ help in production. The album was released and made available free for download on DatPiff.
Career
10 Day paved the way for Chace to become a rising hip hop star. By that time, his name was already included in the “10 New Chicago Rappers to Watch Out For” feature by Complex Magazine. In 2012, Chance recorded and released the track They Don’t Like Me in collaboration with Childish Gambino which landed him the opportunity to open for Gambino on his upcoming tour.
Touring did not present a problem for Chance. Meanwhile, he worked on his next project Acid Rap, which was released in 2013, again as a free download. Many contract and label opportunities followed but Chance decided to remain independent. Finally, in 2015 Coloring Book arrived, featuring the word hit No Problem. This track received almost 60 million hits one week after the release. In 2017, three GRAMMY awards came as the crown of his hip-hop career.
In the News
Over the last couple of years, Chance has been a very effective social activist. In 2017, Chance pledged $1 million to Chicago Public Schools. In 2018, Chance purchased the Chicagoist news website in his efforts to deliver an independent media outlet to the people of Chicago.
Recently, Chance married his long-time girlfriend and mother of his daughter Kensli, Kirsten Corley.
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